We knew Volvo would be trimming back its sedan and wagon lineup in favor of SUVs, but that process seems to be starting for the 2022 model year. According to Motor Trend, Volvo is cancelling the V90 wagon in the United States after this year. (The lifted and cladded V90 Cross Country version will remain for U.S. buyers.)
In theory, this decision stinks. The V90 is great. You can make a strong argument for it being Volvo's best car. The V90 is as premium as Volvo's other vehicles. It's more spacious than the Volvo sedans or the V60 wagon, which would be hard-pressed for actual family duty. You can fit a V90 with all-wheel drive. It gets 30-plus mpg on the highway. It may be the ultimate luxury alternative to joining the SUV masses.
The trouble in practice? No one — and I mean almost literally no one — buys a Volvo V90. Volvo had already stopped sending the standard V90 to dealers in America; you had to special order one if you wanted one, and just 153 people did so over the first half of 2021. Volvo sold more than twice as many XC90s this June as they have sold V90s over the wagon's entire four-year run.
The Volvo V90 probably won't be the last sedan or wagon to depart within the next few years. The V90 Cross Country, which is also one of our favorites, sells better. But Volvo still only sold 338 of them through the first half of 2021. The XC60 and XC90 in June sold more than the entire sedan and wagon lineup for the entire year. We wouldn't be surprised if the non-SUV lineup dwindles to just the S60 and the V60 Cross Country. And it would be hard to fault Volvo for doing that (or buyers for choosing Volvo's equally outstanding SUVs).
